Breaking down the wall
by stjarna
Summary: My version of how the 5th season could have ended and the next one begin. (Written before BBaM aired - used to be spoiler-related, but is spoilerfree now) RoryLorelai-relationship and JavaJunkie. STORY COMPLETE
1. How the 5th season could end

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Summary**: How the 5th season could have ended and the next one begin in my opinion. Can Luke help to break down the wall between Rory and Lorelai? JavaJunkie but main focus on Lorelai/Rory-relationship.

**Author's note**: The story could be a sequel to my last story. So feel free to read that one two :) There are more chapters to come. Reviews (good, bad and in between) highly appreciated. English is not my native language, so be kind. This fanfic was written before "Blame Booze and Melville" aired so everything that happened on the show ever since has no effect on my fanfic.

**pen2starshollow**: Thank you so much for your help, suggestions and beta-reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls. I wish I did like most people here, but I don't. The only thing that I own that could be linked to GG is my coffee machine.

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**Breaking down the wall -** **Chapter 1**

Lorelai tried hard to concentrate on the road.

_Don't think about it, Lorelai. Don't think about it. Concentrate!_ – it didn't work - _How was that possible? What had she done wrong? This was supposed to be a great night. She had wanted to tell Rory about her and Luke moving in together and that she had finally told him that she loved him. It was supposed to be great and exciting and happy. What had happened? Why was there a fight and how could the fight escalate like that? She hadn't meant to go this far. But one thing had led to another. One angry word had led to a bitter answer, which had led to yet another stupid word._

_Don't think about it. Concentrate, Lorelai!_ – but her mind wandered off again - _Rory, her daughter, her pal. How could she say that? "Just go, mum! I don't care what you think. I will stay here over the summer. I don't need you. **Stay out of my life,** **okay**? I am old enough to make my own decisions!"_

_And then Lorelai had answered. "Well then, fine! Stay here. Make your own decisions. But when you have realized that dropping out of Yale was a stupid, stupid thing, don't come crawling back to me! You're old enough. Live your life. **See if I care.** I was just trying to protect you from making a big mistake. But, gee, I guess I was just stupidtrying to do something like that."_

_She hadn't stopped there. Oh, no. "And you, oh yes, you, mum, dad, how can you support her? You always wanted Rory to get the best education, to go to Yale, to become something great. And now you support her in this ridiculous decision? **Why?** Because she has a boyfriend now, who is of good breeding? Suddenly she doesn't need a life of her own, because she could live her husband's life? **You can't be serious!** I**'**ve had enough. **I can't take it anymore.** Bye!"_

And with this she had left the house. She heard the door bang behind her. As soon as she had started the engine of her Jeep to drive back to Stars Hollow, the fight re-appeared before her inner eye. And with every time she thought about it, she more and more regretted her harsh words.

_Yes, she still thought it was a stupid idea to drop out of Yale. It was a stupid idea just to **think** about it. But she shouldn't have exploded like that. She should have tried to talk with Rory. Not yell at her. She hadn't meant to yell at her like that. Suddenly she realized that she might have lost Rory. They had never had a fight like that. She felt tears filling her eyes. Concentrate on the road, Lorelai. Just concentrate!_

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Luke was in Lorelai's bedroom. 

After they had decided to move in together in Lorelai's house until she was ready to move to the Twickham House with him, Lorelai said that she wanted to go to Friday Ni ght Dinner totell Rory about the great news. She had gone home to change and Luke had said that he'd drop by at her house later sothey could celebrate.

He had arrived a bit early, hoping that Lorelai hadn't come home yet. He wanted to surprise her with some home-madepie and champagne (even though he hated champagne). He lit a few candles. He wasn't exactly that kind of guy, but the occasion seemed right to acta little like anover-the-top romantic. Plus he had already packed a box with some shirts, socks, anda tooth-brush. The basic "moving together"gear. He just couldn't wait to start this new life with Lorelai.

He had gone into her bedroom to find a place for the box, but instead he had found an empty drawer and half of Lorelai's cupboard empty. There was a box on the floor with a bunch of clothes stuffed into it.

_Apparently he wasn't the only one who couldn't wait to get started._ He smiled. _This was perfect._ He started to put his socks and boxer briefsinto the empty drawer when he heard a car in the driveway.

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When Lorelai finally reached Stars Hollow, she immediately drove to Luke's diner. But it was all dark. For ahalf an hour she had tried to stop herself from crying. She couldn't take it much longer. She drove on to her house. Hoping, praying that Luke would be there. 

His truck was in her driveway. _Thank God!_

She left the Jeep and opened the door with shaking hands. _She needed him. She needed him so badly right now. He was the only thing that was left._

She entered the hallway and called out for him. "Luke?" _Please, please be here._

No answer. "**Luke!**" she entered the living room, calling out for him louder.

"Yeah. I'm upstairs. Bedroom."

She couldn't go upstairs. She couldn't move anymore. She couldn't even take her coat off. All she wanted, all she needed was someone to hold her. She needed to break down. It had been too much.

"**Luke!** Could you…" her voice started to break, "could you please … come down?"

_Hmm, she sounds a bit funny. Well, maybe she has a surprise, too._

Luke left the bedroom and went downstairs. "Hey, how was dinn..." He stopped in his tracks when he saw her. She was standing in the middle of the living room, still in her coat, her purse in one hand, the keys in the other. Her eyes were welling up, her chin was twitching, and she was biting her lower lip. _She looks_ t_errible. _

"What's wrong?" Luke quickly went down the last few steps until he was standing right in front of Lorelai. She was silent. Shejust stoodthere looking at him, in desperate need for help. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"What happened?" he said calmly, looking into her eyes andtrying to let her know that he was there no matter what.

Lorelai closed her eyes. She pressed her lips together and swallowed hard, trying to keep herself from crying. But she couldn't prevent it. She started sobbing. She dropped her purse and keys. She had no control over her body anymore. This had been too much. Her knees were getting weak. She could feel herself collapsing.

But Luke caught her. He took her into his arms and supported her, trying to pull her up a little. She was crying now. Her knees gave in, but Luke held tight, making sure she didn't fall.

He had never seen her like that. _Yes, he had seen her cry. She had cried on his shoulder a couple of times, but this was different._ He had no idea what had happened, but it must have been terrible.

"Sshhhh. Sshhhh. It's okay. It's okay. Sshhh." Luke strokedher hair with one hand while he wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her up. _He had to calm her down. At least a little. He had to find out what had happened._

Lorelai continued to cry. She couldn't stop. _This was a living nightmare. She had lost her daughter. Her daughter didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore._ He knees gave in again and her sobs becameworse.

Luke had never been so worried. _What had happened? _He had never seen her like that.

He didn't know what else to do. He supported Lorelai's back with one arm and flung the other one under her knees and lifted her up. Lorelai was in no condition to protest or agree or do anything. She had no control over her body. Her head dropped on Luke's shoulder and her arm automatically rested on his chest.

She cried all the way, while Luke carried her upstairs to the bedroom. He placed her on the bed. When he wanted to let go of her to pull the blanket over her, she grabbed his shirt, still sobbing.

"Ssshhh. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here." He strokedher hair while he spoke to her softly. He didn't know what else to do. He was heart broken. _What had hurt her so badly?_

She let go of his shirt slowly and curled up into the fetal-position. Luke silently went to switch off the lights. Then he climbed back into bed and laid down beside her. It seemed like she was beginning to calm down. He could see that she was exhausted. He strokedher hair and tried to comfort her. "Sshhhh. Sshhhh." It was all he could say. He knew now was not the time to push her to talk.

The sobbing grewsofter. Lorelai even opened her eyes. She looked at Luke, and her eyes seemed to say _"Thank you. Thank you for not asking."_ He continued to stroke her hair. A few minutes later, Lorelai had fallen asleep. The crying had worn her out.

Luke lay beside her. Always looking at her, trying to make sure that she was okay. Only, he knew that she wasn't. _Something had happened at Friday Night Dinner. Something terrible. He had to ask her. He had to find out. But not right now. She had to calm down first. She had to get some rest. _He watched her sleep.

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Lorelai woke up a few hours later. Her head was spinning. Her eyes felt terribly dry. Luke was facing her. _He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept at all. And he looked concerned._

"Hey. You okay?" he said in a soft voice.

Lorelai realized that she was still wearing her coat. And then she remembered. _It had not been a dream. It had not been a nightmare. It was reality and it was killing her._ But she was still too exhausted to cry again.

She pulled herself up and sat at the edge of her bed, staring in front of her, not looking at anything.

Luke sat beside her and put his arm around her. "What happened?" He tried to say it as gentlyas possible.

Lorelai looked up and faced Luke. She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip again. _She had to tell him. But how? How should she explain it? She couldn't even believe it herself._

But she saw his concern and she _knew_ that she had to tell him. So she took heart. She sighed and she could feel her eyes welling up again.

"I've lost her, Luke. I've lost her." Lorelai started sobbing again and looked away from Luke, who didn't quiteunderstand what she had just said. _Lost her? Whom? Rory? That was not possible. What had she meant?_

"We had this huge fight and she said thesethings. That she didn't need me. That I should go. That she can make her own decisions. And then I answered and you know my big mouth. My big stupidmouth. How it sometimes just starts talking, without thinking. And I said those things, and then I yelled at my parents, which is nothing new, I guess, but it didn't really help.I left and drove to Stars Hollow, and thenI realized what I said and that I hadlost her. And I needed you. I drove to the diner and the lights were off and you were not there, and then I drove home and … and … and …."

Her emotions took over again. Luke pulled her into a hug and let her cry. He still didn't know what had happened exactly, but at least he had a clue, even though he couldn't believe it. _She was upset about Rory. She had had a fight with Rory and she had lost her. But why? He still didn't know what had happened that made her lose Rory._

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So, did you like it so far? Please review.  



	2. and the next one begin

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Author's note:** Thank you so much for all the reviews! I hope you like how the story continues!

**pen2starshollow**: Thanks again for your help, suggestions and beta-reading! bighug You're my hero!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls. I wish I did like most people here, but I don't. The only thing that I own that could be linked to GG is my coffee machine.

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**Breaking down the wall - Chapter 2**

Two months had passed. Luke had moved in with Lorelai. When she had calmed down enough after her meltdown and told him the whole Friday-Night-Dinner-disaster-story, he had assured her that he didn't have to move in if Lorelai wanted to wait until she could tell Rory. But, she had told him she wanted him there. She needed him there. So he had packed his stuff and moved in with her. They didn't celebrate. It was not as happy and excitingas it should have been. Something was missing. Someone was missing to make this big step for Luke and Lorelai a happy celebration.

The town's people had been excited, though, when they found out about Luke and Lorelai moving in together. They wanted to have a special festival, but Luke quickly put an end to anything they tried to plan. He wanted Lorelai to have some privacy. She was not ready to let everyone know about her falling out with Rory.

Sookie knew, of course. She could feel that something was wrong with her best friend, so they told her. And Lane, being Rory's best friend, had heard a few of the details as well.

Luke and Lane had come to a silent agreement that it would be best not to talk about "that subject," and Lorelai tried to avoid Lane as best as possible. No one spoke about it. Luke tried at first, but Lorelai wasn't willing to let that happen. She knew if she talked about it, all of thememories would come back, and she would have to realize once more that Rory was not there, not home, not calling.

Lorelai was devastated. She tried her best to pretend to be her chipper self, but most people could see that something was bugging her -big time. She didn't sleep very well. She barely ate, let alone let a smile cross her lips. Rumors started. Rory hadn't been in Stars Hollow to visit for quite some time now. But no one dared to say anything for fear ofLuke's wrath that would surely follow.

Luke did his best to make life as good for Lorelai as possible, but he knew that she wouldn't be happy until things were back to normal between her and Rory.

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It was one of those strange morning lulls. Luke was wiping the counter in an empty diner. Lane had just taken a break and had gone to the music store. The bells at the door jingled when Lorelai opened it. 

Luke looked up and tried to offerher a warm smile. It wasn't easy. It was hurting him to see her so devastated.

_She looks so tired and sad. She has lost some weight,_ Luke thought. _Damn it. I have to try and make her eat more._

Lorelai cameto the counter and sat down on one of the bar-stools. "Coffee. Please! Quick, quick, quick!" For someone who didn't knowLorelai, it would have seemed to be a funny bit, but Luke knew that she was just pretending to be happy and funny. She was not, and it was killing him.

Luke poured her some coffee. He didn't argue with her. He was too concerned about her to argue about something stupid like coffee.

"Are you okay?" It was one last try. One last attempt to get her totalk.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Michel is just extremely annoying today. His accent is worse than ever and I just had to get out of there for a few minutes or someone would have lost an eye." Lorelai pretended not to know what Luke had really meant with his question.

He sighed. _She wouldn't talk about it._

The bells jingled again. Lane had come back. Lorelai looked up.

"Oh, uh, hi Lane!" she said nervously.

"Eh…hi Lorelai." Lane wasn't exactly comfortable with the situation either. "Luke, I'm going to bein the storage room. I'll unpack some of the new deliveries."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." _God, this was too damn uncomfortable._

When Lane left the room, Luke looked at Lorelai again. She was staring at the door that Lane had just gone through, deeply submerged in her ownthoughts.

"You could ask her, you know." Luke tried to sound as soft and gentle as possible, not wanting to upset her.

"Hm? What? Oh, well I have to run. The Inn is waiting and if I don't go, someone else might kill Michel and at least I want to be there when it happens. You know, to get rid of the body right away. Give the person the perfect alibi." Luke knew why she was babbling.

Hesighed. _She will continue to ignore the subject_. "Well, okay. At least take a doughnut with you. You have to eat something." He wrapped the doughnutinto a bag and handed it to her.

"No, I'm fine. I'm not hungry." – "Lorelai _please._ Just take it!" – "Okay. Bye. See you tonight." – "Yeah!".

Lorelai left the diner. AsLuke watched her, he shook his head and let out a deep breath. _This craziness had to stop._

"Lane?"

"Yeah. I'm still in the storage room. You need anything?"

"Nah. I just…"

Lane came through the door carrying some ketchup-bottles. She went into the kitchen and put the bottles down.

"What? Did you saysomething?" She turned to Luke, who was leaning against the counter.

"Where is she?" It was not really a question, but more of a plea.

"Who?" Lane knew exactly who he meant, but she tried to play dumb. _What had happened to the silent agreement?_

"Lane! You know who!" _She had to tell him. This craziness had to stop. He needed to do something about it._

"I… I don't know." Lane said, although shedidn't even believe her own lie.

"She is your best friend, Lane. You know! _I know_ you know!" Luke could see how nervous Lane was, how uncomfortable she felt, but he had to go further. He just had to find out.

"Come on, Lane. It can't go on like this. You can't tell me that Rory is happy about this situation? You know them as good as I do. They _need_ each other. They have always had this strong bond. You've seen Lorelai. You've seen how miserable she is. We have to do something. It's _killing_ her! I can't let that happen. Tell me that Rory is just_peachy_and I'll leave you alone, but I know you can't tell me that. So come on, Lane. Tell me where she is! _Help me!__Please_, how many times have you seen me beg like this?"

Lane looked Luke directly into hisface. She saw the concern for Lorelai and for Rory in his eyes.

_God knows, she wanted them to make up as well. She knew that Rory was not even close to being peachy. Yes, she pretended to be, just like her mom, but Lane could tell that she was miserable about this fight. The one big problem was that Lorelai and Rory were both so stubborn that neither one of them wanted to let go first. Maybe Luke was right. Rory and Lorelai needed each other. And maybe they had to interfere to make sure the two got closer again._

Lane sighed and looked to the floor. Then she whispered, "Yale."

"What?" Luke wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.

"She's at Yale. She didn't drop out. I'll give you her address." Lane wrote something down on a paper and handed it to Luke. He took the note, read it and grabbed his keys.

"You're in charge of the diner. I'll be back as soon as possible." He opened the front door and was about to leave.

"Luke?" – "Yeah?" he turned around again. – "We have to fix this!"

Luke gave Lane a small smile and nodded. "I know. We will!"

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So, what do you think? Please review (good, bad, in between?). I'll add the next chapter as soon as possible! (And to those of you who couldn't believe that Rory would drop out of Yale: What do you think now:) ) 


	3. Does Luke have the power?

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Author's note:** Thank you for all the reviews! I am glad you liked the story so far and I hope you like how it continues!

**pen2starshollow**: And once again: Thank you so much for your help, suggestions and beta-reading! bighug

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls. I wish I did like most people here, but I don't. The only thing that I own that could be linked to GG is my coffee machine.

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**Breaking down the wall - Chapter 3**

Rory was in her dorm-room, reading an article for one of her seminars. She hadn't dropped out of Yale. She had spent the summer in her grandparents pool-house.

_Grandpa and Grandma had been nice. Surprisingly enough, they had not tried to interfere much. They had not tried to talk her into or out of her plan._

_Logan, on the other hand, did. He had told her that it was crazy to drop out of Yale because of one lousy internship. He said that she had a lot of potential. She had talent. She was funny and smart, and she should stick with her dream because he knew that she could make it true if she just started believing in herself again. She had turned him into boyfriend-material. If she was able to do that, she would be able to do anything, he joked. And even though he had hardly ever met Lorelai, he defended her and told Rory that it would be best to sit down and talk with her mother. _

_But Rory was stubborn. That was something that she had definitely inherited from her mother, or grandmother, or both. Deep down inside she knew that her mother had been right. It had been a stupid idea to drop out of Yale and she didn't want to become anything else than a journalist. But still, her mother had said all those hurtful things, including that Rory should not come crawling back to her. And so she didn't call, visit, or write._

_She felt miserable. She missed her mom. But, on the other hand, she thought, 'Mom has to realize that I am not a child anymore and I can make my own decisions - even if I end up making the decision she suggested in the first place.'Rory had spoken with Lane a couple of times. One time she and Zach had come over for a visit. But as soon as Lane had tried to talk about Lorelai, Rory changed the subject and sooner or later Lane gave up._

_Now she was back at Yale and the semester had started again. Logan tried his best to get her out of her dorm from time to time. They went to a party, a movie, the theatre. But often she just wanted to be alone. Logan respected that, and she loved that about him._

Looking down at the article in front of her, she realizedshe had just stared at one sentence for 10 minutes without even reading it. She sighed. _**Damn**. I have to concentrate harder._

She heard a knock on the door. _Please let that be Logan. Right now I could really use some distraction,_ she thought.

She stood up from her desk. Another knock, this time louder.

"Yeah, I'll be rightthere. Patience, please!" She opened the door and suddenly losther breath. She hadn't expected _him_.

"We need to talk!" Luke exclaimed anxiously, pointing his finger at Rory. "_You_ need to listen!" He passed Rory and entered the room. "It can't go on like this!"

Rory closed the door. She was puzzled. _What was Luke doing at__Yale? How did__he found out where she was anyway?_

"Luke, uh, what are you doing **-**"

Luke cut her off before she could finish. "You didn't drop out of Yale! Why did you not drop out of Yale?" He was pacing the floor now, turning to face Rory occasionally.

Rory felt offended. She feltthe need to defend herself.

"Because I figured that it was a stupid idea. I should stick to my dream. I had time to think about it when I was at the pool house, and I talked with Logan, and he said it was a crazy idea. And then I talked with Grandma and Grandpa and I decided not to do it. Okay?"

"Okay! _Okay?_" Luke was extremely angry. "No it's not okay, Rory. Lorelai told you that it was a stupid idea to drop out and you told her to shut up and leave and never call you again. And now you did _exactly_ what she had advised you to and still you won't call her? _That's crazy!"_

"Well she said that I shouldn't come crawling back if I changed my mind. Don't blame this on me, Luke, okay? She's not picture-perfect, you know? There's never just one person in a fight!" Rory knew that she was a bit unreasonable, but she was stubborn and she couldn't let her guard down just now.

"No, she's not perfect. But she knows that, and she's sorry for what she said. She didn't mean those words. Rory, do you really believe that Lorelai would let you down, ever? She loves you, Rory. You are the most important thing in her life. You _are_ her life! She was afraid that you would throw your life away. She wanted to protect you. That's who she is. That's what she does. You know her!" Luke spoke in a gentle voice, trying to calm down for the both of them. But Rory was still upset.

_She couldn't give in. She couldn't admit that maybe she had been wrong too._ "Well, if she is _so sorry_, why didn't she call and apologize? Huh?**"**

"Because you two are the biggest pigheads I have ever seen." Luke was becomingangry again. _How could two people be that stubborn? Why could__neither of them just move one inch?_ "She couldn't call you, because you had told her not to. And you didn't call her because she had told you not to come crawling back to her? God, this is crazy. It's absolutelycrazy. Rory, please! You _have_ to do something. It's not a sign of weakness if you call her. I know she will be thrilled. I know she doesn't even want an apology from you. She just wants to know that you are okay. She wants you back in her life." He was begging her now.

"Well, if it's not a sign of weakness, she can call as well, right?" Rory wasn't sure why she was still pretending to be upset. _The truth is she wanted to call her mother. She wanted her back in her life. She needed her, too. But she couldn't. She just couldn't yet._

"Oh, this is unbelievable!" Luke started yelling now. He had lost all patience. _He wanted to fix this. He wanted to fix this so badly and yet both of them – Lorelai and Rory – made no effort to help him._ "She couldn't call you, Rory. She was upset. She was hurt. Thatwas supposed to be a great night, okay! She onlywent to thatstupid Friday night dinner because she knew that you would be there, and she wanted to tell you something. She was so excited. She was so happy. And then she arrived and you drop that bomb on her and toldher to leave. How should she have called you? This fight ruined a great day for her. She was devastated. She still is!"

"Well, then what was great news that she wanted to tell me? Did she buy a new pair of shoes?" Rory was upset. _She wasn't used to people yelling at her. And Luke had never yelled at her. Besides, this was her dorm. He shouldn't yell at her. She was stubborn. Very stubborn._

"No, Rory. She wanted to tell you that we wanted to move in together and that she had told me that she loved me. She thought you would be thrilled and excited and she wanted to ask you if you were okay with the whole moving in thing, but apparently you don't care anymore what Lorelai hasto say"

And with this, Luke left the room. He had had enough. _He couldn't fix it. No matter how hard he tried. He couldn't fix it. He was frustrated. How could two people be so stubborn_?

Rory winced asthe door fell shut. She looked at the closed door. The whole conversation and Luke's last words were spinning in her head. She was breathing heavily. She stoodthere for at least 10 minutes, not moving at all. Slowly her breathing calmed down.

"_Rory, please! You have to do something. It's not a sign of weakness if you call her. I know she will be thrilled. I know she doesn't even want an apology from you. She just wants to know that you are okay. She wants you back in her life."_ She heard Luke's voice. _She wanted her mother back in her life. She wanted to know that her mother was okay. She wanted to care what her mother wanted to say._

She picked up her phone and dialled Lorelai's cellnumber.

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Lorelai was at the Inn, in the middle of an argument with Michel. The umpteenth that day. 

"Fine, I will go. But I am not happy about it!"

"Great, fantastic, super! Now get out of my sight before I do something really ugly with this pen!" Ever since her fight with Rory, Lorelai was always on the edge, and although Michel didn't know what exactly made Lorelai so cranky nowadays, he realized that it was best for his medical condition to leave when she asked him to. He muttered some French curse words and left the reception hall.

Lorelai watched him leave and let out a deep breath. _God that was annoying!_

Just then her cell phone rang. She was still caught up in the argument and was too distracted to check the caller's ID when she picked up.

"Hello? Whoever it is, you better not mess with me because I'll hunt you down and kill you!" She didn't care who was at the other end of the line. She was just angry. Angry and worn out and tired!

There was a brief silence at the other end of the line.

"_Hello?_" Lorelai said impatiently.

"You told Luke you loved him?"

Lorelai almost dropped the phone when she realized who just talked. She covered her mouth with her free hand and sat – or better fell down on the sofa in the reception hall. Her knees didn't support her anymore. She felt tears in her eyes.

"Mom?" Rory had takenthe first step. _Please let her take the next one,_ Rory thought.

Lorelai swallowed hard. Then, she took a deep breath. _Rory had acted first. It was her turn now._

"Yes, I did." her voice was shaking. Her hands were trembling. Lorelai started to smile.

Rory sat down on her bed, her knees weak. She was relieved. It felt like a whole big mountain had just been lifted of her shoulders. _Her mother had taken the next step._

"And you asked him to move in with you?" She began to smile.

Lorelai's hand moved from her mouth down to her chest. She needed to feel her heart beat. To try and calm it down a bit. She was about to cry. And yet, she had the broadest smile on her face. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from whimpering, while her eyes were slowly filling with tears.

"Yes, I did." She answered, this time a bit more confidently. She even let out a small laugh. _This was good!_

"And he said yes?" Even though she didn't know it, Rory felt just like her mother. She, too, was welling up. Almost not able to hold back the tears.

"Yes, he did." Lorelai nodded, even though she knew that Rory couldn't see it.

"So, you're living together?" It was more a rhetorical question. Rory was smiling now. _She was happy for her mother. Lorelai deserved to be this happy!_

"Yes, we are." Lorelai nodded. "We are."

"Mom?" – "Yes?" – "I'm sorry."

Lorelai let out a whimper. She tried to be strong, but this was hard. "You don't have to do that, okay? It's okay. I'm sorry too. Let's forget about it, okay? Let's not talk about it. We were both stupid? Let's agree on that. Stupid and stubborn.We're the king and queen of stupid- and stubbornness. No wait, that's not good. We're the queen and princess of stupid- and stubbornness. The Siegfried and Roy of stupid- and stubbornness. No, that was a weird reference. God, I can't think straight. I'll come up with a better reference later, okay? Big promise." She breathed in and exhaled through her mouth, desperately trying to stay calm.

"Mom?" – "Yeah?" – "Can I come home tonight?" – Lorelai heldher breath.

"We could watch a movie together? You, me, andLuke? Maybe celebrate the whole moving-in together?"

Lorelai nodded "That would be great. Yeah. Luke can cook something. And we can pick a movie that will annoy him and wait for him to start one of his famous rants. Or we'll order lots of junk food, and I'll buy lots of pop tarts and popcorn and ice-cream and stuff and we can mock Luke for only eating carrot sticks. That will be fun. Seven-ish?" The knot in her throat was getting bigger by the second.

"Seven-ish it is." Rory was happy. _They had made up. The way they always did. They both knew that they had made mistakes. There was no need to talk too much about it. They could just forget it and be "them" again._

Rory was about to hang up, when she remembered something.

"Oh, hey mom?" – "Yeah, kid?" – "I did not drop out of Yale." And with this, Rory hung up the phone. She looked at the phone in her hand and smiled. _Everything was going to be fine._

"_I did not drop out of Yale." _Rory's last words were echoing in her head. Lorelai heard Rory hang up. Slowly, she let down the phone. Her breath was getting heavier again and her whole body began to shake. She started crying. All the tension that was there during the last two months was gone. All the sadness, all the sleepless nights -everything forgotten_. They had made up. They were talking again and Rory had not dropped out of Yale._ Lorelai was unbelievably relieved. But the sleepless nights, the exhaustion took their toll. Lorelai was crying, and she couldn't stop. Her cell phone fell to the floor. She covered her face with both of her hands. Resting her elbows on her knees. Her body was shaking.

Michel entered the room to find her like this. He didn't know what to do. _Had she lost her mind? Did she need help? Should he hug her? He had done it once and it had been a strange feeling._ He went to the kitchen to fetch Sookie.

* * *

"Stop pushing me, Michel. I was just cooking and I could have easily spilled that hot oil on you. You should be more careful! What is wrong with -" Sookie spotted Lorelai who was still crying on the sofa. 

"Oh, honey? What happened? What's wrong?" She rushed to Lorelai's side and stroked her hair. "What have you done, Michel?"

"Nothing. I swear. We had an argument. She told me to go. I did. I came back. She was crying. This is _not_ my fault!"

"Hey, honey?" But Lorelai couldn't speak. She was crying and she sure as hell didn't know how to stop. Sookie could only think of one person who could help now. She picked up Lorelai's cellphone and searched for Luke's number.

* * *

"Hello?" 

"Luke? Uh, hi, it's me, Sookie."

"Oh, hi, Sookie. What's up?"

"Uh, listen, Luke. Could you come to the Inn. Like, really fast?"

"Why? Something wrong?"

"Well, uh, yeah. I don't know. It's Lorelai. I don't know what happened. But she's sitting hereand she's crying and she won't stop and she won't talk and I'm kinda worried…"

"Okay, hold on, Sookie. I'm in my car right now. I'll be there in 15 minutes!"

"Oh, well, okay. Yeah. Bye. Hurry!"

* * *

A few minutes later a worriedLuke entered the Inn. He looked around the corner and immediately spotted Lorelai on the sofa, still crying, with Sookie sitting next to her trying to comfort her best friend. 

"What's wrong?" Lorelai suddenly looked up when she heard Luke's voice.

She stood up slowly and stumbled a little because he knees were still so weak. The crying had slowed, but new tears were just around the corner.

Luke stepped closer. "Hey, you okay?"

Lorelai let out a deep breath. She smiled a little before she flung her arms around Luke. She began to cry harder again. _She knew that he had done it. She had no idea how, but it must have been him. How else should Rory know about the "I love you"s?_

Between sobs she let him know, "She called, Luke. She called! She called!"

Luke held her tight, stroking her hair with one hand. He closed his eyes. _Thank God. It had worked! _He opened themagain and saw Sookie standing next to the couch where Lorelai had been sitting. She looked confused and concerned, but began to understandwhat had led to this big meltdown. Luke started to smile at Sookie, who smiled back.

_This is gooooood_, she thought. "Hey, uh, Luke. Why don't you bring Lorelai home? I think she needs a break, right? We can do without her for a day."

Luke smiled at Sookie and simply nodded. He let go of Lorelai with one arm, slowly pushing her to the door with the other. Lorelai didn't look up, but Luke made sure she didn't stumble. He sat her in his truck and drove to their home. Lorelai looked out the window during the drive, a small smile on her face. She had stopped crying.

* * *

Luke pulled into the driveway and stopped his truck. Both of them stepped out ofthe car, and Luke went to the front door to open it. He turned back and saw that Lorelai was still standing on the lawn. She was looking at the house, smiling. 

_Rory is coming home, tonight,_ she thought. Then she looked at Luke and gave him a big, bright grin.

_God, she looks beautiful_, he thought and smiled back at her.

Lorelai went up the steps to Luke and walked through the now open door. When she passed Luke, he bent down a little and whispered into her ear.

"I missed that smile!"

Lorelai looked into the living room. _It had changed. Something had changed. The dark shadow that had hung in the air for the last two months was gone. She felt so relaxed and relieved and happy. _She couldn't stop smiling.

She felt Luke's hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and just let that feeling of comfort flow through her body for a second_. It felt good, extremely good._ She opened her eyes again and turned around to face Luke, who put his hands on her shoulders again, rubbing them slightly.

"She's coming home tonight. Seven-ish. Movie night. Loads of junk food and other crap you disapprove of." Lorelai gave Luke a warm smile.

"Ah, well, we'll see about that. Maybe I can cook something for you that will not rot your insides?" He smiled back at her. _God, she's beautiful when she smiles. I'm so glad that smile is back._

"Nah, mister! We'll need junk food. You can cook something healthy another time. Tonight will be all about burgers and pop tarts and cookies and lots and lots of coffee!"

Lorelai looked Luke into the eyes and suddenly becameserious again. _He had been there the whole time. He had been there for her when she felt miserable, when she cried. And it hadn't been the first time. And he never asked for anything in return. She needed him and he was there. And she hadn't even thanked him. She was a terrible person and still he seemed to love her._

"Thank you, Luke."

"For what?"

"For what? Are you _serious_?" she laughed. "Luke, you moved in here because I couldn't stay alone. You held me when I cried and didn't even ask why I was upset, because you knew that I didn't want to talk about it. You made sure that the town left me alone. You made sure that I ate at least something. You were there for me the _whole time_. And before that! You have _always_been there for me without asking for favours, and I just think it is time to finally thank you!"

"Well." Luke blushed slightly. _He was never comfortable when receiving__compliments_. "You don't have to. That's what I'm here for."

Lorelai smiled and suddenly she realised something else. "Hey Luke?" – "Yeah?"

"You moved in here." - "Ahm, yes." Luke was a bit confused. _She stated the obvious_.

"You moved in here. We're living together." – Luke shook his head. _What was she trying to say?_

"You and me. We're living together. We should finally celebrate this!"

"Yeah, we should celebrate this!" he said in a husky voice and leaned in to kiss Lorelai.

But Lorelai wasn't waiting for a small peck. _She wanted the whole thing. She was happy again. She was herself again and she wanted to celebrate_. So she put her hands around Luke's neck and pulled him into a mind-blowing kiss. Luke was startled at first, but soon he gave in and the kiss deepened. _God, this feels great_. They hadn't kissed like that since Lorelai had asked Luke to move in and he had said yes. And somehow it seemed that the two months that had gone by were forgotten.

The kiss got more and more heated. Lorelai pulled Luke into the living room and to the stairs. Luke tried to follow her, not wanting to break the kiss. Their hands were exploring each other'sbodies. They stumbled upstairs, one never letting go of the other. _God, it is good to have her back_, was the last clear thought that Luke had before Lorelai pulled him into the bedroom.

* * *

How was that? Are the characters still in character? Were the Luke/Rory and Lorelai/Rory conversations believable? Did you like it? Reviews please! 


	4. Final Chapter

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Author's note:** Thank you for all the reviews! So, this is the final chapter. I hope you enjoy!

**pen2starshollow**: And once again: Thank you so much for your help, suggestions and beta-reading! – and for the final sentence, because the end is just a bit more perfect now bighug

**LukeNlorelaifan: **Thanks for the reviewIMO (and maybe that's not completely logic, but it's the Gilmore-Universe and everything is possible :) ) Luke drove to Yale in the morning (not really early, but let's say 10 a.m.) and maybe came back early afternoon (don't know how long the drive from SH to Yale would be, but I'm thinking about 1-2 h?). So first of all they would have enough time to go upstairs before Rory comes home and second of all they kinda got carried away (and I wanted to add a little fluffy-ness.) Hope that's a satisfiying explanation :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls. I wish I did like most people here, but I don't. The only thing that I own that could be linked to GG is my coffee machine.

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**Breaking down the wall - Chapter 4 (Final Chapter)**

They were cuddled together under the blanket, their legs entwined. Lorelai had laid her head on Luke's shoulder, while he had draped his arm around her, drawing little circles on her upper arm with his thumb. Lorelai's left hand lay on Luke's bare chest. His left hand covered hers. She could feel his heart beat. For a while they just lay there, neither of them speaking. Both were enjoying the happiness and the peacefulness that had been missing for the last two months.

Lorelai was the first to speak. "How did you find her?"

"Hmm?" Luke had not been paying attention. He was still somewhere in dream world.

"Rory. Who told you where to find her?"

"Why do you think **_I_** had something to do with that?" He shifted his body a little bit, placing his right hand under his head now.

"Luke. She knew that I told you I loved you. Who else could have told her about that? You're not a very good liar, you know that, kind sir!"

"Yeah, well." he paused for a second. "Lane."

"Lane? _Lane_ told you? What did you do? Beat her up and hold her head under cold water?" Lorelai moved her head so she could face Luke.

"_What_? Am I with the Mafia now?" he pretended to be mad.

"No," she said softly. "I am just surprised she told you."

"I threatened to fire her if she didn't tell me."

Lorelai giggled at his joke. "Way to go, Mister!"

They were silent again, but only for a moment.

"Luke?" – "Hmm?" – "I don't know what you said to Rory, but whatever it was. Thanks for saying it."

"Honestly," Luke took a deep breath, "I have **_no_** idea what it was. I didn't think I got through to her."

"Well, obviously you have more power than you think you do. You are Super-Luke! We should design a special car for you tomorrow. And a logo. Oh, and a cape. Do you think you would ever wear someof those sexy Superman-tights? You could have a spatula with super-powers! Wow, that's…" – "Lorelai! Shut up!"

"No way! You did not just tell me to shut up? I am insulted. I am hurt. I will now pout and never talk to you again!"

"Well, at least it's gonna be quiet now!" Luke gave her one of his famous grins. A grin that apparently only she could conjure on his lips.

And again they enjoyed their happiness in silence. And again it was Lorelai who broke the silence.

"That was nice! Our little celebration."

"Nice? Ha!" Luke gave her an ironic smile.

"Well, maybe it was a bit more than just _nice_." Lorelai placed a small kiss on Luke's chest and looked up to him. "I think it was a very nice…. festive… absolutely fantastic… long awaited …. necessary … calorie-burning …." she kissed her way up Luke's chest and slowly moved until she was sitting on top of him. She bentdown until her lips were only inches apart from his. "…celebration of our moving-in together."

"I think we should celebrate more often." Luke gazed at her and they kissed again.

Lorelai started to nibble on Luke's earlobe and then placed soft, wet kisses on his neck, sometimes biting it. He moaned. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing for celebration number two," Lorelai said between kisses.

Luke tried to concentrate. "We should probably stop."

"I don't think so, mister. I think we should get going!" Lorelai started to move downwards, now kissing and biting Luke's shoulder.

"But we should get ready before Rory comes home. Remember? Rory? Coming home? Happy? _Oh God_!" Luke tried hard to focus but he couldn't speak in complete sentences anymore. _What Lorelai did was feeling **way** to good._

"Oh, we have plenty of time before …" They were interrupted when the half-closed bedroom door swung open.

"Oh. Sorry!" Rory stood in the doorframe and didn't know where to look. Somehow she couldn't take her eyes off of the bed. _She had come home a bit earlier, because she had been too excited to stay at Yale. She had seen the truck in the driveway, but she had figured that Luke had probably walked to the diner and her mum was probably still at the Inn. She had gone upstairs__to put a dress back into Lorelai's closet that she had borrowed_.

"Ah, **_Jeez_**!" Luke flung his right arm over his face and closed his eyes. _This__can't be happening. _He felt embarrassed.

Rory chuckled. _15 different shades of red. Wow._

When Lorelai had seen who had just entered, she had buried her face into Luke's shoulder. _My daughter just walked in on me, almost having sex._ She chuckled when she heard Luke's famous "Ah, Jeez!" _Something about this scene was hilarious_. She looked up and smiled.

"Hey hon." She couldn't suppress another giggle. "Could you maybe… wait downstairs?We'll be right there!"

"Oh, well. Sure. I'll be in my room." Rory smiled and left the bedroom. _It was good to be back. She had missed this. Giggling about "Embarrassed!Luke" with her mother. That was fun! If not disturbing._

_

* * *

_  
As soon as Rory left the couple alone, Lorelai burst into laughter. She buried her face again and laughed against Luke's chest. 

"Will you please _stop_ that?" Luke was still embarrassed, not quite sure how to handle this situation.

Lorelai crawled off Luke and propped herself on one arm so she was lying beside him, facing him. "Come on Luke. That was kinda funny. _Admit it_!" She still couldn't stop laughing.

"_What_? You're daughter just walked in on us. That's _not_ funny!" _This was embarrassing._

"Luke! Rory's 20. I think she has seen worse!" Lorelai tried to comfort Luke.

"I hope she hasn't!" Luke calmed down a little, but he was still upset. The 15 different shades of red left his face very slowly.

"She was fine with it, Luke. She knows we have sex." – "_Ah, Jeez_." – "Luke! _Please_. We are living together and hopefully Rory will be around more often again. You don't have to be embarrassed about stuff like that. We're sharing a bedroom and a bed and we are not only using it for sleeping only. _Period_ Rory's knows that and she doesn't mind. Maybe she was caught a little off guard here, but she didn't mind. I think she found it as amusing as I did! Come on. I'll get dressed and go downstairs. You'll go to the bathroom, take a shower, get dressed and come downstairs and then we will have the movies night as planned with the junk food, as planned, and you have nothing to be embarrassed about, okay?"

"Okay."

Lorelai smiled, padded Luke on the chest and left the bed to fetch some clothes.

Luke looked at her, while she put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-Shirt.

"I can't promise that I'll come downstairs though." At least 5 shades of red were still left.

"Oh yes, you will. Believe me! You will!" Lorelai gave him an awkward wink. _She knew that she could wear him down_.

* * *

Lorelai knocked on Rory's bedroom door and slowly opened the door. Rory was sitting on her bed, reading. 

"Hey there, kiddo." – "Hey!" They smiled at each other.

"So, you're home, huh?" – "Yeah. Sorry about before."

"Ah, don't worry. Luke's gonna be fine. Just has to get used to it."

"Does that mean I have to run in on you guys again?"

Lorelai let out a small laugh. "You better notor he will end up moving out pretty quickly!"

They both laughed. _It felt good to be able to laugh together again._

"So, are you ready for the movies? Should we order Pizza? Chinese? Or, let's go crazy and order Indian food. We can even burn down the house afterwards to get rid of the smell. We have the Twickham House now, you know. Always good to have a house to spare. I didn't have time to buy pop tarts, but I know that we have some popcorn left and Luke can always make some pancakes."

"Ohohohoh! _Pancakes!_ I haven't had any good pancakes in months!"

"Pancakes it is! Let's go!"

They went to the living room together. Rory went through the DVD- and tape-collection to pick a movie, while Lorelai called up the stairs.

"_Luuuuuke_ Are you ready? We're waiting for you. We _need_ you. You have to make us pancakes! We. Want. Pancakes! Come down here quick. Please! _Pretty please_!"

Luke's head appeared. "I'll come. But we will _not_ talk about before. I mean: **_ever_**! We will **_never_** mention…. before. There's not gonna be any mocking about… before. Is that clear?"

"Oh come on. _No fun_!" Lorelai tried to pull her famous pout.

"Agree, or no pancakes and no coffee!" Luke pointed downstairs at Lorelai and Rory, who both yelled at the same time "_Agreed_"

Luke smiled and slowly walked down the stairs to Lorelai. _It was good to have them back. He loved having them back. Everything about it. Even if it meant to have the begging-for-coffee back, the movie nights with some of the worst movies ever. It was worth it._

Lorelai pulled Luke into a hug and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"Careful. Kid in the house!" Rory said with a broad grin on her face.

"Ah, **_Jeez_**!" Lorelai and Rory burst into laughter. _Embarrassed!Luke was back._

"Okay, _that's it_! No coffee tonight. No pancakes!"

"What? _Not fair_!" shouted Lorelai.

"We did _not_ talk about _before_!" said Rory smirking.

"**We. Want. Pancakes! Give. Us. Pancakes!**"

"All right! _Stop it_. I'll be in the kitchen. Pancakes will be ready in a minute!".

Lorelai gave him another peck. "Love you!"

He started to smile and pulled her in for another, longer kiss. _That wasn't embarrassing after all. It was great._

Luke let go of Lorelai and went to the kitchen to make the pancakes.

Rory put a DVD in the DVD-player, turned the TV on and waited for the menu to start.

She propped herself on the couch. Lorelai smiled at her, took the few steps from the stairs to the sofa and joined Rory.

They sat there for a moment in silence.

"It's nice to have Luke here, hm?" Rory was the one who spoke first.

"Yeah, it's the best. Although I think I didn't appreciate it until today." Lorelai smiled.

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, hon. So, how is Logan? You're still seeing him?"

"Yep. It's going great, actually. He gave me a lot of space lately, because I wanted to be alone. I wasn't exactly Ms. Happy-and-cheerful. Although he tried to get me out of my shell sometimes, which I did appreciate. He kinda talked me into not-dropping out of Yale, you know? He defended you. Said that I should have listened to you!"

"Well, maybe he's not as bad as I thought he was." Lorelai gave Rory a big warm smirk.

"Maybe not." Rory smiled back. (A lot of smiling was going on that day!)

"Hey mom?" – "Yeah?" – "I know you didn't want to talk about it, but let me just say something: I'm sorry for the ugly things I said to you. You were right about the dropping-out-of-Yale-idea being stupid and everything. But I am old enough to make my own decisions. That doesn't mean that in the future I will not ask for your opinion and I am sorry that I asked for Grandma's and Grandpa's first, but it means that in the end I have to make those decisions _myself_, and you will have to respect those decisions. Can we agree on that?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes, we can. And I also said some things that I didn't mean. And I am sorry. And now, I believe we can officially declare this fight over and move to our next topic. Which is Movie Night! And pancakes. Luke Where are the pancakes? **We. Want. Pancakes!**"

"In a minute." Luke yelled from the kitchen. "Jeez. It's like you haven't eaten in two months!" And in some way, that statement was true.

Lorelai and Rory giggled on the couch.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai said between chuckles.

"You know I love you, right?" Rory looked serious now.

"Yeah, I do. And, right back at ya!" Lorelai smiled and stroke Rory's hair putting it back behind her ear.

"Pancakes are ready. Coffee's ready. Go nuts!" Luke entered the living room with a fully loaded tray and put it on the coffee-table. Lorelai jumped up from the couch and hugged him.

"Oh, you're my hero. I love you! You're perfect!"

Luke hugged her back and let out a small laugh. _Crazy lady_. He looked over Lorelai's shoulder at Rory, who was still sitting on the couch, smiling at the happy couple.

_It was good to be back. Be home again. To Be – a family._

**The End**

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**Please review!**


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